Friday, September 26, 2014

Vegan lemon meringue pie

I think I may have reached the pinnacle of my baking adventures. Right now, I can't think of anything more magical than this lemon meringue pie. It has the requisite crisp base, zesty set centre, and fluffy - so fluffy! - meringue topping. And it is vegan. I wasn't confident going in, but can now say that meringue without eggs really is possible!

I knew I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie for Vegan MoFo, but this wasn't one of the dishes I prepared ahead of time. In fact, I only made it this week. I was worried it wouldn't work, or that I'd be up all night repeating my efforts if the first pie failed.

In the end, it was oddly easy. I made the meringue topping with egg replacer - a hefty 1/3 cup of it - which was whipped for 5 minutes with water while gradually adding sugar. In other words, it was just like making regular meringue. The same was true for the rest of the pie. There is a lot of sugar and the recipe is a little bit time consuming, but the end result is very much worth it.

For those of you who can remember what we do and don't have in our kitchen, last week I didn't have electric beaters but now I do. This doesn't signal the arrival of our shipment (although it is looking positive for that coming in just over a week). Instead, I remembered that I didn't ship my beaters. I donated them to my sister. Having remembered that, I hastily bought a new set just in time to make this.

It has been a while since I've had lemon meringue pie, but as far as I can recall, this tastes like the non-vegan versions. My 'meringue' component didn't brown on top as egg versions do, and perhaps tasted a little bit different to meringue made with eggs, but you would have to pay a lot of attention to notice. Perhaps the best accolade is that the pie was well received by Mr Bite, who is a big lemon meringue pie fan.

All in all, I am calling this a success and venturing a confident assertion that I'll be making it again.

Vegan lemon meringue pie

A truly magical dessert

Vegan; could be gluten free if you use gluten free flour

Makes 1 pie

Allow time for the lemon filling to set before making the meringue topping, about 2 hours

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl, and then rub in the non-dairy spread with your fingers. Add a drizzle of water to bring the dough together, if needed. Roll the dough out to 1-2cm (1/2 inch) thick and arrange in the bottom of a pie tin. Put in the fridge while you heat your oven to 200'C (400'F).

When the oven is ready, prick the pastry at the bottom of the pie tin, and then cover the pastry with baking paper. Fill with enough baking beans, nuts or seeds to hold the paper down. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until just firm and golden.

Set aside while you make the lemon filling.

Stage 2 - the lemon filling

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups (300g) caster sugar

1/2 cup (55g) corn flour

1/4 teaspoon vegan gelatin or agar powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup non-dairy milk

1 cup water

Zest of 2 lemons (approximately 1-1/2 tbsp)

Juice of 4 lemons (approximately 3/4 cup)

Method

Put all ingredients in a non-stick saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon. Once boiling, stir constantly for 4 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and very difficult to stir. Pour into the prepared pie base and allow to cool for at least 2 hours (I left mine to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature and then 1-1/2 hours in the fridge).

Stage 3 - the meringue topping

Ingredients

1/3 cup (5 tbsp + 1 tsp) egg replacer (I used the Orgran brand, which is available in the UK and Australia; the Guardian recipe linked to above used the Ener-G brand)

2/3 cup (167ml) ice cold water

3/4 cup (180g) caster sugar

Method

Place the egg replacer and water in a clean mixing bowl and stir to combine. Beat with electric mixers for 5 minutes on high speed, adding the sugar gradually as you go. The mixture is ready when it has formed soft peaks and look like meringue. If you have a stand mixer that does the beating for you, this would be a good time to use it!

Spoon meringue over the lemon filling, covering the base, and then add dollops in heaps around the centre of the pie to form discrete peaks.

Let the pie stand for approximately 15 minutes, while you heat your oven to 100'C (210'F). Bake for 30 minutes until the meringue topping is just crisp on the surface.

Best served chilled, although you may not be able to wait for it to fully cool before trying some!

Are you a lemon meringue pie fan? Or do you have much experience with vegan meringue?

Ohhh look at that vegan meringue! Lemon meringue pie was one of my favorite desserts as a kid, haven't had it in forever though. I'm not sure how much I trust the American egg replacers, but I'm wondering if I can make up something by looking at the ingredients list of the Orgran egg replacer, because this looks totally amazing.

I was pretty skeptical about the egg replacer too! I'm not sure if the Orgran brand is better than others or egg replacer just does more than I thought it could. Do you have the Ener-G brand near you? That was used in the recipe I adapted, so should also work :)

oh gosh! So awesome. I actually was in Boston, MA (U.S) last night and bought a slice of vegan lemon meringue pie! It was so good but I was sad that I didn't know how to make it myself...so, perfect coincidental timing!

I never dreamed it would be possible to 'veganize' meringue but you've done it! You're an absolute star Kari! ♥I'm so excited to give this a try. Lemon meringue pie is one of my all-time favourites :o)

I have this recipe bookmarked from Guardian Winess, as well as another blog, but am so happy to see it on your blog, as it has encouraged me to make it much sooner than I had anticipated. Really looks fab, I wonder what my husband will make of the vegan version.

Lemon meringue pie is such a classic dessert and I'm so glad there's a great vegan version to enjoy. I love the look of your pie, Kari, it looks very authentic. Great work on the meringue! It's piled so high! xx

I take heart from your comment that it may taste a little different to the meringue made with eggs because I was never a fan of lemon meringue pie but they always look so spectacular that I wish I liked them - this might be my answer. It looks amazing - and I am surprised it didn't brown as I would imagine sugar would be important in the browning.

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